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DISCOUESE 



ON THE OCCASION OF THE 



TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 



CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH, 

NORWICH, OT., 

PBEACHBD SEPTEMBER 24th, 18 6 5, 

BY 

SAMUEL GKAVES, Pastoe. 






NORWICH: 

BULLETIN JOB OFFICE, FRANKLIN SQUARE, 

1865. 



V ^ 6 



DISCOURSE. 



" But call to remembrance the former days" — heb. 10 : 31. 



It is equally a pleasure and a duty for the people of 
God to recall the past ; to trace in the memories of 
former days the hand which has led them, which has 
strewn their way with blessings, and brought them 
deliverance in times of trouble. Such reviews, when 
they are devoutly made, and especially when they 
cover a series of years, or eventful periods, serve greatly 
to strengthen faith in God, to inspire gratitude for the 
past and hope for the future. It is in this way, as well 
as by direct promise, that God gives assurance to his 
people that he who has been with the fathers will 
also be with the children; and that he who has 
taken care of his cause in other days will take care 
of it in days to come. 



In our individual experiences such reviews are most 
profitable, and the men of God in all ages have fre- 
quently made them. David sings, " But I will remem- 
ber the years of the right hand of the Most High. 
Therefore will I remember thee from the land of 
Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Miza^'V 
And after him, Asaph sings of the " Vine that was 
brought out of Egypt ;" how God had planted it and ' 
caused it to take deep root and fill the land ; how the 
hills were covered with the shadow of it ; how she 
sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches 
unto the river. " So," exclaims he, " will we not go 
back from thee." Moses, long years before, when he 
had brought the people through the wilderness to the 
borders of Canaan, and just as he was about to go up 
into the mount, whence he never returned, was com- 
manded to write a song in which should be rehearsed 
the former dealings of God among the people. " Now 
therefore write ye this Song for you, and take it to the 
children of Israel; put it in their mouths that this 
song may be a witness for me." Thus did the works 
of the Lord, in the days of the fathers, recounted in 
their national Songs of deliverance, chanted in their 
psalms of "Mercy and Judgment," keep alive in the 
bosom of the Hebrew people a sense of the presence 
and power of Jehovah, and hold them back from utter 
apostacy amidst their idolatrous surroundings, and the 
frequent defection of their kings and priests. 

To-day we are called as a Church to this grateful and 
pious duty, — to go back to " the former days," when 
God planted the seed in a few devout hearts, which 
sprang up into a Church of Christ; to record the 



early struggles of those who covenanted together in its 
formation, to speak of their hopes, their fears, the 
sacrifices they made, the faith by which they walked, 
and by which they wrought ; and beginning thus, to 
come down to the present, parting company, step by 
step, with one and another of these men and women 
of God, as they pass on before us to " the better land." 

11 Just gone within the veil where we shall follow, 
Not far before us, hardly out of sight, 
We, down beneath them, in this shady hollow, 
And they, far up on yonder sunny heights." 

Twenty-five years have now elapsed since the forma- 
tion of this Church. A quarter of a century is no 
inconsiderable part of a life-time. It measures almost 
the period of an entire generation. Twenty-five years 
ago, and those to whom we now look, as under God 
the future hope of the Church, were unborn ; and you 
who are now in the prime of manly strength — the 
fathers and mothers of growing families, and upon 
whom to-day rest the yoke and burden of Christ — 
so light and easy to willing necks — were children. 
Twenty-five years ago, and you whose heads are now 
white with " the snows that never melt," whose brows 
are furrowed and whose forms are bent, whose steps 
are faltering, but whose loved and venerable forms are 
still an ornament in the house of God, were in the 
vigor of your manhood. Twenty-five years; — how 
have they thinned your ranks ! Your early compan- 
ions in prayer, and faith, and toil, — how few are here ! 
how many are there ! Let us write for them this Epi- 
taph to-day, in these our Memorials : " They did what 
they could ;" — " Blessed are the dead which die in the 



Lord from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, for they 
do rest from their labors ; and their works do follow 
them." 

It was on the 1st of April, 1840, that the Eev. Miner 
G-. Clarke came to this city, a stranger and an invalid. 
He inquired if there were any Baptists in the place, 
and was directed to the shop on Shetucket street — 
where the, Bank Building now stands — of Dea. Dewey 
Bromley. The First Baptist Church, or as it is called, 
the West Side Chwrh, was then without a Pastor, 
and Mr. Clarke was urged to remain over the Sabbath 
and preach. This he was not able to do; but by 
promise, returned and spent the next succeeding Sab- 
bath. Overtures were made to him to become Pastor 
of the Church. But after preaching a few times, Mr. 
Clarke became convinced that any permanent progress 
for the Baptist cause in this community required a 
place of worship more centrally located, and of easier 
access to the people generally ; and therefore declined 
the call. 

These convictions had also been growing for some time 
in the minds of many of the more enterprising members 
of the Church, and of a number of Baptist men and 
women who had recently come to the city to reside. 
The question of removing the Church on the West 
Side to some more eligible site, was raised and dis- 
cussed. But this was deemed unadvisable, in view of 
the fact that the ground occupied had been held by 
the Church for forty years ; and especially as an annuity 
which was soon to become available, would be for- 
feited if the Church were removed to this side of the 
river, Accordingly, after much prayer and consulta- 



tion, the time seemed fully to have come, in the provi- 
dence of God, when a new interest should be com- 
menced. The Town Hall was engaged ; twelve men 
interested in the enterprise, became "severally and 
jointly " responsible for the salary of a minister for six 
months, and Sabbath worship was commenced under 
these auspices about the 1st of July following. The 
congregations at once became large; the preaching 
was earnest ; the meetings were solemn ; the presence 
of God was manifest, and the approval of the Head 
of the church evidently rested upon the enterprise. 
The faith of this Christian band was of the working 
kind ; their prayers were effectual — that is, effected them- 
selves, — set them to work, while they moved God. 
Soon there were anxious souls, and rejoicing souls in 
their gatherings. As yet, however, there was no church. 

On the 2d day of September, a number of persons 
met at the residence of Mr. Elisha W. Beckwith, and 
there formed themselves into an Ecclesiastical Society, 
to be known as The Central Baptist Society of Nor- 
wich. Prayer was offered on the occasion by Dea. 
Dewey Bromley. Mr. George Child was chosen Mod- 
erator, and Lucius Thompson, Clerk. A constitution 
and by-laws were adopted, and a call extended to Mr. 
Clarke "to become the preacher," on the salary of 
$600 a year. 

On the 15th of the same month, a number of breth- 
ren and sisters, not connected with the First Church, 
met at the house of Mr. Avery Bromley, on Union 
street, to consider and act upon the question of form- 
ing a new Baptist Church in this city. Capt. Josiah 
Rogers was called to the Chair, and Edward Kay was 



8 

chosen Clerk ; prayer was offered by Eev. Mr. Clarke. 
After a fall interchange of views and feelings, they 
proceeded to organize themselves into a chnrch of 
Christ, by passing the following resolution, and then 
adopting Articles of Faitli, and a Chwch Covenant. 

Resolved, That after a due examination of all the circum- 
stances in which we are placed, we deem it our solemn and 
imperative duty to proceed to organize ourselves into a Bap- 
tist Church. 

The Church thus constituted, extended to Mr. Clarke 
a unanimous call to become its Pastor. 

The number of constituent members was thirty- 
seven ; and their names, which it will be interesting 
for you to hear, are as follows :* 

fRev. Miner Gr. Clarle, Pastor. JEdwin Park, 

JEmellne C. Clarke, Betsey Park, 

*David L. Maples, *Adelia P. Haven, 

*Lucinda C. Maples, fEDWARD Ray, 

fEDwiN B. Gardner, *Lucius Thompson, 

JEunice Gardner, *Ann C. Thompson, 

^George Child, fGEORGE Lovis, 

*Beriah S. Rathbone, f Orra W. Loyis, 

JJosiah Rogers, Betsey Cummings, 

♦Elizabeth Rogers, JPhebe Cummings, 

fPAULINE H. BlDWELL, JOHN CHIPMAN, 

Charles Dean, fALPHA R. Campbell, 

Mary Dean, fCLARissA Campbell, 

^Christopher B. Rogers, -j-Rowanna Campbell, 

JRachel Rogers, « Stout, 

♦MORGAN SAFFORD, MlNOR 6l>RK, /dU^V-n^ 

JWilliam P. Bennett, Estha Palmer, 

fERASTUS C. KEGWIN, fHANNAH P. KEGWIN, 

Harriet Collins. 

With these, deserve to be mentioned the three Brom- 
ley Brothers : — * Dewey, f Avery, and* Isaac, who, 
though not constituent members, were from its incep- 
tion most intimately and earnestly identified with the 
Church. 

♦ Those marked [*] are still members of the church. Those marked [f] are 
supposed to be living. Those marked [X] are known to be dead. Of the 
others, nothing is certainly known. 



On the 2 2d of September, one week from the organi- 
zation of the Church, an Ecclesiastical Council con- 
vened, composed of delegates from the following 
Churches, viz: 1st Norwich, Bozrah, Lebanon, Col- 
chester, Jewett City, Preston City, and Voluntown. 
Beside these delegates, Rev. Ira R. Stewart and Rev. 
Erastus Denison were present by invitation. The 
Council, after a full hearing, voted to give them a pub-* 
lie recognition as a church of Christ in gospel faith 
and order. The services were held in the Town Hall, 
on the ensuing evening ; the sermon was preached by 
Rev. Tubal "Wakefield, of Canterbury ; and the hand 
of Fellowship was given to the Church, through the 
Pastor, by Rev. Benajah Cook, of Jewett City. And 
at the next meeting of the New London Baptist As- 
sociation, which was held in the city of New London, 
on the succeeding week, the Church was received into 
that body, sending as its first delegates, the Pastor, M. 
G. Clarke, and Br. C. B. Rogers, E. C. Kegwin and 
George Lovis. 

Thus was planted, amidst alternate hopes and fears, 
the little vine which the rain, and the dew, and the 
sunshine of the Divine presence and favor have made 
to flourish ; which we trust has borne much fruit for 
the garners of life, and under whose shade we sit to- 
day in the enjoyment of so many blessings. 

Almost immediately after the recognition of the 
Church, about sixty members of the First Church ob- 
tained letters and united with the Central, — making a 
membership of about one hundred. 

On the 9th of January, 1841, the following addi- 
tional Church officers were chosen, viz: Elisha W. 
2 



10 

Beckwith, Erastus C. Kegwin and George Lovis, 
Deacons / and Dewey Bromley, Treasurer. 

Under the earnest and faithfnl ministry of Mr. 
Clarke, the zeal which inspired this new interest, and 
the manifest blessing of God, the place of their wor- 
ship soon became too strait for them. The Spirit of 
God was in their assemblies and in the families of the 
congregation ; men were fonnd asking, " What mnst 
we do to be saved;" converts were rejoicing in the 
peace and joy of pardoned sin ; and for nearly a year 
the waters of baptism were monthly visited by those 
who sought to follow the example of Christ in this 
delightful and impressive ordinance. In their second 
Associational Letter, the Church say : " There has not 
been a day during the past year when there have not 
been awakened sinners in our assemblies." All work- 
ed in the vineyard ; all felt that they were called to 
be laborers. The field was divided, and each one was 
allotted his portion of it to cultivate, and what was re- 
corded of the church in Jerusalem, was almost literally 
true of them, " And the Lord added to the church 
daily such as should be saved." 

The blessing which had thus attended the organi- 
zation and early labors of the Church, made it mani- 
festly their duty to provide a house of worship. The 
Town Hall was inconveniently located, and beside, 
afforded no facilities for evening meetings. 

The Society was composed of persons of limited 
means, — not a man of wealth among them, and but 
two, it is believed, who had property which was not. 
already incumbered. Yet, true to their original sense 
of duty, and the necessities of the case, they felt that 



11 

a site in some central place should be obtained, and a 
house built sufficiently commodious to meet the grow- 
ing demands of the congregation, and the larger in- 
crease in years to come which their faith embraced. 

Accordingly, on the 27th of October, 1840, a com- 
mittee was appointed, consisting of David L. Maples, 
George Lovis and Avery Bromley, " to report a site 
suitable for the erection of a house of worship." And 
finally, after much pains-taking in examining different 
locations, the committee reported in favor of the loca- 
tion where we are now assembled. It was then a va- 
cant lot, the dwelling which formerly occupied it hav- 
ing been removed across to Bath street ; and at the 
time of purchase was owned by the late Joseph Back- 
us, of whom it was purchased for the sum of $2,500. 

Plans were immediately procured, estimates made 
and proposals received to do the work. The several 
parts were let to different parties, and the house was 
erected and finished under the direction of the follow- 
ing named persons as Building Committee, viz : George 
Lovis, John Murry, David L. Maples, Avery Bromley 
and Charles Dean ; and Morgan Safford, Treasurer of 
the Committee. 

These men went forward, stayed up by brethren of 
the same spirit, whose devotion to the work which 
they had undertaken, whose untiring zeal and whose 
sacrifices freely offered upon this altar, give them a 
lasting claim to our grateful remembrance. 

The cost of the house when completed was $11,000, 
which was a large per centage of the entire wealth of 
the Society. Few churches have moved forward with 
more energy and zeal in so great an undertaking with 



12 

such scanty means, and put to the practical test of dol- 
lars and cents the motto of Modern Missions, inscribed, 
upon its banners by the sainted Gary : " Attempt great 
things far God; expect great things from God.' 1 There 
are some here to-day, and some yonder in the " Upper 
Sanctuary," who still remember, we doubt not, those 
anxious months from the time when you first broke 
ground until the house was completed. You well re- 
member how often, together and in secret, you carried 
this work to God when it pressed too heavily upon 
your hands and hearts ; when the only hope of suc- 
cess was in him ; when the only ray of light came from 
above, and the only relief you found from the burden 
that bore you down was in prayer, and the promises 
and the unmistakable ongoings of Providence. There 
were heroes in that day. The martyr spirit possessed 
the Church. Men came forward and mortgaged their 
farms and homesteads, embarked their earthly all in 
the work, — trusted God ; trusted their brethren. Nor 
were the sisters behind the brethren in the spirit of 
willing sacrifice. They plied the needle ; they dis- 
pensed with luxuries ; — their tables, their wardrobes, 
and in some cases even the necessaries of life were put 
under tribute to carry forward this enterprise. 

It was the common talk among the shrewd and cal- 
culating outsiders that the house could never be built 
by the Society ; or if built and finished, could never 
be paid for ; but that it would eventually and inevita- 
bly fall into the hands of some more wealthy denomi- 
nation. So current was this belief, that on one occasion, 
after the time for dedicating the house had been fixed, 
the painters refused to proceed further with their work 



13 

until they had reoeived fresh assurances that they 
should have their pay when their work was done. 

The house, nevertheless, was completed at the ap- 
pointed time, and the contractors paid ; leaving a debt 
upon the Society, after all that could be collected by 
subscription, of over $8,000. 

On the 14th of December, 1841, the house was pub- 
licly and appropriately dedicated to the worship of 
Almighty God. Rev. Kollin H. Neal, D. D., of Bos- 
ton, preached the sermon from the words of the Psalm- 
ist, " The Lord reigneth : let the earth rejoice" 

At this time, be it remembered, there was no such 
house of worship, nor had there ever been in the city. 
The Broadway church had not then been built, nor 
the 2d Congregational church, now standing on Church 
street, nor Christ's church, on Washington street. 

The success which had crowned these labors, stimu- 
lated our Congregational brethren to a similar work 
of faith. A number of members went out from the 
Second Church and commenced meetings in the Town 
Hall ; — a movement which finally resulted in the form- 
ation of the Third Congregational Church, now wor- 
shipping on Broadway. 

While the material structure was thus rising, God 
was rearing the spiritual building. At the close of 
the year, the Associational Letter shows an increase of 
sixty-eight members by baptism, and ninety-three by 
letter, making one hundred and ninety-eight ; of these, 
six had been dismissed and two had died during the year, 
one of whom was the Pastor's wife ; leaving a total mem- 
membership of one hundred and ninety. During the sec- 
ond year, the Church report fifty-two additions by bap- 



14 

tisni and forty-one by letter, with t an aggregate mem- 
bership at the close, of two hundred and fifty-eight. 

In the autumn of this year a state of unusual reli- 
gious interest existed in the Church and congregation, 
which soon ripened into a powerful revival. 

The Pastor was assisted by Rev. Ira R. Stewart, 
then of Mystic. As the result of this revival chiefly, 
there were added to the Church ninety-three by bap- 
tism and fifty-four by letter. 

In the September following, a series of meetings 
were held by Rev. Jacob Knapp, then in the fullness of 
his power as an Evangelist. The meetings resulted 
in the quickening of the saints and in the conversion 
of sinners ; and in an addition, during the year, of fifty- 
three by baptism, and fifty-two by letter; making at 
the close of the third year in the history of the Church 
a total membership of four hundred and thirty-three — 
two hundred and sixty-six had been baptized, and two 
hundred and forty received by letter. 

The next year witnessed a marked falling off in the 
religious interest ; only four were added by baptism, 
and twenty-six by letter. 

In 1844 the house of worship belonging to the 2d 
Congregational Church was injured by fire, and for 
nearly two years, while its present substantial house 
was being erected, the Church worshipped in this 
house — occupying it at hours when we were not using 
it. At the close of this season, Rev. Dr. Bond, Pastor 
of the Church, preached to the united congregations an 
appropriate discourse, which was afterwards pub- 
lished. 

In the spring of 1845, the members who were living 



/ 



15 

in the vicinity of Greeneville, felt it their duty to 
raise the standard in that growing village. Accord- 
ingly, about sixty asked for letters, and were dis- 
missed to form themselves into a Church. 

This was felt by the parent church to be a loss 
which it could illy sustain. And yet they had reason 
to rejoice that in less than five years God had made 
them " two bands." 

In the autumn and winter following, another revival 
season was enjoyed ; as the fruit of which forty were 
added by baptism and eighteen by letter ; nearly ma- 
king good the loss sustained in the formation of the 
Greeneville Church. 

Another of its members was needed to serve in the 
Deacon's office, and the Church, after prayer for direc- 
tion, made choice of Isaac Bromley to fill the office. 
This was done June 23d, 1845. 

In the spring of 1846, the Pastor, who had served 
the Church so faithfully and so much to its edification 
and enlargement, felt it his duty to resign, and dis- 
solve the connection which had existed between him 
and the Church from its origin. His resignation was 
accepted with many regrets, both on the part of the 
Church and of the numerous friends whom his cour- 
tesy and Christian fidelity had drawn around him. On 
the last Sabbath in March, he preached his farewell 
sermon, closing a pastorate of six years. Under God 
he has built his monument here, in this house of wor- 
ship, which he was so largely instrumental in building, 
and in this Church of Christ, which he was permitted 
to plant. 

For an entire year following the resignation of Mr. 



16 

Clarke, the Church was without a Pastor ; aud the pul- 
pit was supplied by Rev. Messrs. Muzzy, Brown and 
Field. 

On the 1st of April, 1847, Rev. Edward T. Hiscox, 
who had been chosen Pastor the preceding fall, entered 
upon his labors. The interests of the Church had suf- 
fered during the year from the lack of pastoral labor ; 
and beside, the removal of a large business firm, with 
which were connected many members of the Church 
and congregation, the numbers and pecuniary ability 
of the Church were very much lessened ; and further- 
more, the falling due of a debt which still remained 
upon the house, and which at this time amounted to 
$5,500, added greatly to the embarrassment and dis- 
couragement of the Society. 

Most strenuous efforts were at this time made by 
the Society, led on and encouraged by the newly 
elected Pastor. The indebtedness was divided into 
shares of $25 each, and as many shares assumed by 
the members as their ability would allow. Those who 
could not take a full share, contributing — some ten 
dollars, some five, some one, and some fifty cents, and 
others twenty-five, and even twelve-and-a-half cents. 
This was the most general and the most generous con- 
tribution which the Society ever made. 

In the January following, the committee which had 
the matter in charge, reported that but $3,700 had 
been subscribed. A new effort was immediately com- 
menced to reach the figure of $4,000, when the amount 
pledged should become binding. At the same time, a 
new paper was started to raise the remaining $1,500. 

In lifting this debt, the Church passed through its 



' 17 

severest pecuniary struggle ; it seemed to many little 
less than impossible in the weakened condition of the 
Church, to pay this debt, and yet meet the current ex- 
penses, and the calls of benevolence which were made 
upon it. But the honor of the cause, and the very ex- 
istence of the Church seemed to hinge upon this effort ; 
and in time their sacrifices were rewarded, and their 
persevering efforts crowned with full success.* In the 
following October the debt was paid. 

In the year 1849, the organ still used in our Sab- 
bath worship, was purchased at a cost of $800. This 
w^as done by a number of persons interested in the 
singing, who formed themselves into a voluntary club, 
called the " Organ Association." 

In the following year, repairs and alterations were 
made in the house. The pews w T ere shortened and ar- 
ranged in tiers, with three aisles instead of two, as 
they were at first ; and the " South Side-room," as it 
was called, was fitted up for holding evening meetings. 
These expenditures, together with deficiencies in the 
current expenses, involved the Society in another debt 
of about $3,200; which was ^>aid the next December. 
During the four years through which these pecuniary 
struggles continued, the Church report in their letter 
to the Association, that they had raised and expended 
for the purposes of religion at home and abroad, more 
than $14,000. 

This fidelity to the cause of Christ, which surely 
was not in word only but in deed, was followed by a 
delightful revival, which continued with gentle but 
most gracious results for nearly six months. The con- 
gregations were large; harmony and brotherly love 
3 



18 * 

prevailed and abounded among the members ; thirty - 
iive were added by baptism, and thirteen by letter; 
and the Church report a total of four hundred and 
three members. 

In May, 1851, the Church called three more of its 
members to serve it in the office of Deacon, viz : 
Dewey Bromley, who had for many years been a 
Deacon in the First Church ; B. T. Cranston and H. S* 
Gates. * 

In the summer of 1852 the Church was again called 
to separate with its Pastor, after a faithful and success- 
ful pastorate of five years. The additions in member- 
ship during those years were few ; being but forty-four 
by baptism and seventy-nine by letter ; while the de- 
crease by dismissions, exclusions and deaths, was one 
hundred and forty -two. 

The first pastorate — that of Mr. Clarke, might be 
characterized, as the season of planting, and of the vig- 
orous shooting forth of the vine ; the pastorate of Mr. 
Hiscox, that of the training and pruning / when less 
stock and more root is grown. 

During this time esp&ially, we find the Church en- 
gaged in one almost continuous course of discipline — 
to revive the fainting, to restore the wandered, and to 
cut off those whom Christian discipline could not re- 
claim. This added much to the burdens of the 
Church, and gave an undertone of sadness to the joys 
which they experienced. Few pastors have more en- 
deared themselves to their people than Mr. His- 
cox ; and the separation was made in mutual sor- 
row. The seed which he sowed is still growing fresh 
upon these fields ; and his memory is fragrant in all 
your households. 



19 

In August, the Church called Mr. Joseph A. Good- 
hue, a recent graduate of Newton Theological Semi- 
nary, to become its Pastor, and in the October fol- 
lowing he was called to ordination, and set apart to 
the work of the gospel ministry. 

After a pastorate of only two years Mr. Goodhue 
resigned, to accept an appointment which had been 
tendered him as Associate Principal of the Connecti- 
cut Literary Institute, at Suffield; — a position for which 
the scholarly attainments of Mr. G. peculiarly adapted 
him. The Church express their regrets at parting so 
soon with their Pastor ; and record their high appre- 
ciation of his fidelity in the pulpit and in the chamber 
of sickness, and bear testimony to the profit which 
they had received from his ministry. 

During these two years, there was considerable fall- 
ing off in the membership. The increase had been 
only thirty-two, while the diminution had been eighty- 
four ; of these, the names of nearly forty were dropped, 
who for years had not been heard from, and whose 
places of residence had become unknown. 

The Church were also called in these years to pass 
through trials in the discipline of many of its mem- 
bers, and the excision of several from its communion ; — 
a painful yet most salutary and solemn duty which 
Christ lays upon his church, and which cannot be neg- 
lected, except at the peril of those graces which should 
ever distinguish her from the world. 

The Church at this time also published an edition of 
the Articles of Faith and Covenant, with a list of its 
present and former members. 

During the last year of this pastorate, the Church 



20 

and community were called to mourn the death of 
Rev. William^P aimer, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 

Mr. Palmer began his ministry at the early age of 
twenty ; and continued to exercise it for a period of 
forty years. For twenty-four years he was Clerk of 
the New London Baptist Association, of which he was 
a constituent member. 

Like most of our pastors in his day, Mr. Palmer 
was a self-made man. And yet he was an earnest and 
thorough student, a sound preacher, well grounded in 
the doctrines of grace, and a devout Christian. His 
papers show that during his ministry, he baptized three 
hundred and forty persons. He died as the Christian 
dieth, in a well-assured and triumphant faith, and en- 
tered, we doubt not, into the joy of his Lord. 

His wife, our sister Sarah B. Palmer, who remained 
^tjL^K. with us for nearly ft^s* years after his death, never 
ceased to cherish his memory and grieve over her loss. 
She was the sister of Elder Alfred Bennett, of Homer, 
N. Y., so long and widely known as the Agent of For- 
eign Missions. She resembled her brother in many 
particulars; was a woman of unusual compass and 
penetration of mind, well versed in the Scriptures, 
and clear and fixed in her theological views. She died, 
as you well remember, some two years ago, and her 
remains were laid beside those of her venerated com- 
panion, in the beautiful grounds of the Yantic Ceme- 
tery, where they sleep side by side in the peaceful 
slumber of the tomb, and in hope of the Resurrection 
of the Just. 

In October, 1854, the Church called Rev. Frederic 
Denison to the pastoral office. The call was accepted, 



21 

and Mr. Denison entered upon his work in the No- 
vember following. During the first year of his minis-, 
try, the numbers continued to decrease. None were' 
baptized, and but ten were added by letter ; while 
thirty-three were removed, of whom fourteen were 
dropped. 

This state of things, continuing as it had for some 
years, was justly calculated to awaken the deepest 
anxieties and lead the more spiritual of the Church to 
humiliation and prayer. In the beginning of the next 
year, their mourning was turned into jo}^. They report 
in the annual letter, that " a great cloud of salvation 
hung over the community from January to June ; the 
meetings increased until they were held every morn- 
ing and evening through the week, with many in at- 
tendance." 

They report at this time seventy-three additions, of 
which fifty-eight were by baptism. This, it will be 
remembered, was the season of great revivals, enjoyed 
so generally throughout our land, and which broke out 
the next year in the north of Ireland, in Scotland, and 
in some parts of England and on the Continent. 

In 1858 a number of brethren and sisters obtained 
letters to unite in forming a church in Baltic. This 
was the second church that was colonized from us. 
About the same time, the Church was called to pass 
through other severe trials in the discipline of its mem- 
bers, and to part with some with whom it had long 
and lovingly walked. 

In the following spring, another delightful revival 
was enjoyed. The Pastor was aided bv Rev. J. S. 



A 



99 



Swan, of New London. As the fruit of this revival, 
forty-seven were baptized and twelve were added by 
letter. These, like former additions, were mostly from 
the ranks of the young, and embrace many of you who 
are now in the prime of life, and upon whom, under 
God, the Church to-day rests her hope. 

Heretofore the Church had gone to the water-side 
whenever it had administered the ordinance of bap- 
tism ; but this was rendered more and more difficult 
by the use of the river banks for business purposes. A 
baptistery was therefore built in the church during 
this year. 

In April, 1859, the Pastor felt it to be his duty to 
resign ; and once more the Church was called to sever 
this sacred relation. Mr. Denison's pastorate contin- 
ued four-and-a-half years, and was marked by great 
earnestness and fidelity ; and by the blessing of Grod 
was crowned with eminent success ; — the Church hav- 
ing enjoyed, under his ministry, two revival seasons, 
and received to its fellowship one hundred and seventy- 
two members. 

After the resignation of Mr. Denison, the pulpit was 
supplied by Bro. A. K. Potter, then a student in Brown 
University, now Pastor of the Second Baptist Church 
in Springfield, Mass. — who preached the word to the 
great acceptance of the church and congregation. 

In the Autumn of 1859, the present Pastor received 
and accepted a call from the Church, and entered upon 
his duties on the first Sabbath in November. The re- 
vival influences of the preceding spring seemed gently 



23 

to continue ; and during the year nineteen were ad- 
ded to the Church ; — six by baptism. 

In May, 1861, the Church again increased the num- 
ber of its Deacons by calling to the office Br. David 
L. Gale and Moses H. Sisson. 

In the summer of 1862, the Society commenced the 
work of repairing and enlarging their house of wor- 
ship ; which for more than twenty years had remained, 
with few alterations, as it was built. 

The front was entirely changed and brought toward 
the street, making room for thirty additional pews. 
The orchestra was remodeled, the galleries lowered, a 
new pulpit built, the walls replastered and frescoed, 
the Lecture and Conference rooms, and the entrances 
to them wholly changed, and the house newly fur- 
nished throughout at an aggregate expense of $7,000 ; 
$3,000 of which was paid down, and at the present 
time, the remainder is nearly all provided for. 

The house, thus refitted, was rededicatecl to the ser- 
vice of God, in February, 1863. Kev. E. T. Hiscox, 
D. D., of New York, the second Pastor, preached the 
dedicatory sermon. 

The present Pastor will soon close the sixth year of 
his ministry with the Church ; four of these years are 
covered by the strange national experience of the dark 
and bloody Rebellion, which has made such a draft 
upon the spiritual, as it has upon the mental and na- 
tional resources of the land ; distracting and absorbing 
thought, and casting us upon every extreme of expecta- 
tion and experience. 

Many noble spirits, both in the church and congre- 



24 

gation, heard the voice of duty in the calls of their 
country, and went forth to " the high places of the 
field" to meet and roll back the bloody surges of Trea- 
son that threatened to engulph us all. Most of these 
have returned. Some alas ! maimed for life ; some with 
honorable scars, and all with an untarnished record. 
Three of them went down in the bloody strife ; and 
one died almost immediately after his retura home. 
Of these, appropriate mention has been made upon a 
former occasion ; but there are two names which de- 
serve a repetition in this Memorial — Lieuts. Man- 
ning and Jacobs. They have left a blank in this sanc- 
tuary of our worship and in the inner sanctuary of 
our hearts, which has not yet been filled. 

But notwithstanding all the distractions caused by 
the war, occasional conversions have occurred, and sea- 
sons of occasional refreshing have been enjoyed; signs 
of revival have often appeared ; but no general out- 
pouring of the Spirit had been experienced till during 
the last winter and spring ; when a series of meetings, 
continuing from the first of February until May were 
held, in which the presence of God was manifest, and 
his power displayed in the conversion of sinners. Our 
hearts were humbled before God, and many of the 
members were greatly refreshed and strengthened. The 
Pastor was assisted for several weeks by Eev. J. R. 
Manton, of Providence, R. I. ; fifty- two were added to 
the Church, — thirty-two by baptism. During the pres- 
ent pastorate, the number received has been one hun- 
dred and eleven, of whom forty-nine have been bap- 
tized, making the present number three hundred and 
sixty-five. This brings us down to the present time. 



25 

SUMMAEY. 

During the entire twenty -five years, the Statistics of the 
Church have been as follows ; 

Number of Baptisms, 534 

Number received by Letter and on Experience, 505 

Number Eestored, 11 

To which add the original Membership, - - 37 

And we have the number received, - - 1087 

Number Dismissed, 395 

Number Excluded, '-.--- 103 

Number Dropped, - - - - - 72 

Died, 94 

Number lost, ... 664 

Total of present membership, - - 423 

This shows an error of fifty-eight somewhere in our 
records. 

The Church has been served by the following offi- 
cers :— Revs. Miner G. Clarke, Edward T. Hiscox, Joseph 
R. Goodhue, Frederic Denison and Samuel Graves, 
Pastors ; Elisha W. Beckwith, Erastus C. Kegwin, 
George Lovis, Isaac Bromley, Dewey Bromley, Horace 
S. Gates, Bartholomew T. Cranston, David L. Gale, Mo- 
ses M. Sisson, Beacons ; Edward Ray, and Robert M. 
Haven, Clerks / Dewey Bromley, B. T. Cranston, and 
Loren A. Gallup, Treasurers / and E. W. Beckwith, 
George Lovis, J. Amesbury, D. L. Gale, and J. L. 
Denison, have served as Superintendents of the Sun- 
day School. And it is especially note-worthy, that all 
these officers are still living. 

Thus, in an imperfect manner, have we gone through 
a review of our history from the origin of the Church 
to the present time. The record here sketched has its 
lessons : 
4 



26 

1. We may mark the faithfulness of God. The Fa- 
thers — many of whom are yet with us, but " some of 
whom are fallen asleep" — began this work of build- 
ing here a church of Christ, in weakness ; they went 
forward trusting in the promises of God, and not one 
of his promises has failed them. I call you to record 
this day, Fathers and Brethren, that God has fulfilled 
to us all the pledges he has made ; his blessings have 
been abundant ; whenever we have cried unto him, he 
has heard us and brought us relief. In times of trial, 
when brought into strait places ; when oppressed un- 
der pecuniary embarrassments ; when every way ap- 
peared to be hedged up, and we seemed to stand, as 
Israel did upon the shores of the Red Sea, encom- 
passed on every hand by difficulties, he has opened for 
us a path as he did for them. 

. 2. Another lesson taught, is the importance of Faith 
in religious enterprises, and the honor which God puts 
upon those who exercise it. 

If it had not been for faith in God, this Church 
would not have been constituted, nor this house of 
worship built. It seemed to worldly men an act of 
folly, — an attempt that was sure to end in failure ; 
and it seemed so, I am told, to some of the churches 
hereabouts. But the men chosen for this work were 
men of faith ; they walked by faith, they wrought by 
faith. The providences of God were clear to them, 
and they went forward believing that God would call 
them to no work which he would not enable them 
to do. 

There are times — and they are of more frequent oc- 
currence than we are accustomed to suppose in the 



27 

developments of providence, as touching the kingdom 
of God — when worldly wisdom and the deductions 
of a mere human reason are to be thrown aside, and 
his people are called to launch out upon his naked 
promises ; nay, upon God himself, without any speci- 
fic promise. Such a time had come when our Pil- 
grim Fathers weighed anchor while the storms of a 
fast approaching winter were howling on the deep, 
and set the prow of the immortal Mayflower toward 
the solitudes of 

" — the wild New England shore." 

Such a time, too, had come when Cary set forth for 
India, in the face of all the obstacles and opposition 
which the East India Company could cast in his way ; 
sneered at as " the sanctified cobbler ;" deserted by his 
own wife — yet with a simple, single trust in God, he 
went forth to a work which now has the benedictions 
of the whole Christian world upon it, and which has 
brought light and civilization and salvation to the 
millions of the East. And w T hat honor has God con- 
ferred upon the men who in such emergencies have put 
faith in him, and " hoped against hope I" Their names 
stand upon the immortal record beneath those of Noah, 
and Abraham and Moses ! 

3. Another lesson taught, or perhaps we may say 
another truth illustrated, is that the season of the 
greatest religious prosperity which a Church enjoys, 
is often and generally the very time when it is ma- 
king the greatest sacrifice for Christ, and bearing its 
heaviest burdens. The first ten years of out' history 
were years of constant struggle under pecuniary 



28 

embarrassments ; and yet they were the years of our 
largest prosperity. The spirit of sacrifice is the spirit 
of Christ ; and no wonder that his blessing is upon a 
church when such a spirit pervades it, — when its in- 
ternal polity and its outside Charities are prompted by 
such a spirit of willing sacrifice for Christ and his 
cause. 

Again : as touching the church itself we learn from 
this record, 

1. That it has always been a Revival church. It be- 
gan in a revival, it has grown by revivals, its hope has 
always been in revivals ; not in spasmodic efforts which 
are of doubtful profit in the long run, but rather in a 
full and faithful use of the ordinary means of grace, 
appointed by the Savior and used by the Apostles to 
this end. Seven distinct revival seasons have been en- 
joyed, beside many "times of refreshing from the 
presence of the Lord,' 7 of less note. And as in the past 
so in the future, our hope is in revivals, — in those " set 
times to favor Zion" which God vouchsafes to his peo- 
ple ; in the plain and pungent preaching of the Word, 
preceded, and followed by the Divine Spirit to the 
hearts of men. And when this ceases to be the hope 
and reliance of our Baptist Churches, — when we trust 
to anything else for prosperity, then we may write 
" Ichabod" upon our walls, for the glory will have de- 
parted. 

2. The Church has always been a Missionary church, 
and in lively sympathy with all the works of Chris- 
tian benevolence at home and abroad. This interest 
has been shown by observing from the first, the Mod thly 



29 

Concert of Prayer, and by the liberal annual contribu- 
butions to Missions which it has never withheld, even 
in the times of its greatest embarrassment. I hazard 
nothing in saying — and I do not speak it in the spirit of 
boast — that no Baptist Church in Eastern Connecticut 
has done more according to its ability, for the cause of 
general benevolence than this Church, or given its 
Pastors a more liberal support. And to this I believe is 
due very much of the prosperity that has attended it. 
And in this is seen another fulfillment of the Divine 
promise, " The liberal soul shall be made fat ;" " The 
liberal deviseth liberal things and by liberal things 
shall he stand." 

3. The Church has always been engaged in the 
work of Sunday Schools. It has seen in the young 
the hope of the Church, and felt it a duty to gather 
them in, — not to the Church, until the Spirit of God 
has regenerated them, but into the Sunday School, 
where they receive instruction which leads to Christ, 
and which makes them intelligent Christians when 
they are converted. And the Divine favor has been 
upon this work, as may be seen in the history of our 
revivals, which have gathered their fruits so largely 
from the Sunday School. 

Again: it has always been a Temperance church. 
Early in its history, I find, at a time when the ques- 
tion of temperance was exciting a deep interest in this 
community, a committee appointed for the purpose 
brought in a series of resolutions designed to express 
the sentiments of the Church upon this subject. A 
minority of the committee thought the report was 



30 

not up to the demand of the times, and submitted a 
stronger set; the Church rejected the majority report, 
and adopted the minority resolutions. 

Again : The Pastoral relation in the Church has 
been more permanent than in most of our Baptist 
Churches; and to this extent has avoided one of 
the saddest evils which afflict our denomination. 
Instability in the pastoral relation begets fickleness, 
love of novelty and captiousness on the part of 
Churches, and produces poverty, superficiality and a 
kind of hireling spirit on the part of the ministry ; 
both of which are serious obstacles to the prosperity 
of churches and the efficiency of the ministry. This 
Church, I believe, has always settled its Pastor, and 
never hired him by the year. To this, in no small 
degree, is due the prosperity which you have enjoyed. 
No maxim is truer than this, — that long pastorates 
make stable churches and able ministers. 

Once more : The records of the Church show that 
it has kept up almost a continued discipline ; and thus 
has endeavored to keep that which Christ had com- 
mitted to her ; — to guard, if possible, the purity of her 
doctrine and the Christian reputation of her members, 
and so to preserve the one pure, and present the other 
faultless. When, therefore, any member has imbibed 
sentiments, or pursued courses contrary to sound doc- 
trine, the Church has commenced discipline with them ; 
and if they could not be reclaimed from their errors 
of faith or practice, after patient and long-continued 
labor, they have been removed from its fellowship. 



31 

And no church can enjoy the favor of Christ which 
neglects this important duty. 

And finally, we record it to the special care of Christ, 
that the Church has been a harmonious body ; with 
the freedom of opinion and the strong individualism 
which Baptist Churches not only allow in their mem- 
bers, but which they guard and foster, there has been 
a good degree of harmony in its consultations and in 
its actions. 

But I cannot close this already too protracted dis- 
course without a word for our honored dead. Of the 
living, whose piety and benevolence and sacrifices de- 
serve mention — many of whom are before me to-day — 
both men and women, it would be indelicate for me 
to speak; but on some coming day, some successor of 
mine, who shall stand before your children as I to- 
day stand before you, will speak of them in befitting 
terms. But of the departed I may speak ; they belong 
to the Church still. 

*' One family we dwell in him. — 
One Church, above, beneath ; 
Tho' now divided by the stream — 
The narrow stream of death." 

There was Bro. John Murry — your older brethren 
remember him — his piety, his devotion ; and how he 
came" forward before he was yet a member of the 
Church, and with others mortgaged his property to 
erect this house of worship ; how faithful he was to the 
end ; and how you carried him forth to his burial, as 
the disciples did Stephen, and made great lamentation 
over him. 

And there was that wonder of grace, known in our 



32 

Baptist Sunday School literature as " The Old Rope- 
maker" — arrested when far down the drunkard's ca- 
reer ; " plucked as a brand from the "burning" and made, 
by Divine grace, one of the most devout and faithful 
of the flock. His face comes before many of you to- 
day, plowed as it was by the rough encounters of life, 
yet beaming with the light of faith and hope, as he 
sat in the sanctuary or arose to speak in the confer- 
ence room ; — you remember, in that day of struggle, 
the seventy-five dollars he brought, which, like the 
" poor widow's," was all his living, and which, like her, 
he " cast into the treasury of the Lord." And you re- 
member too, his -patient companion, who after waiting 
many years, has joined him in the " Better Land." 

And there was Captain Josiah Rogers — one of the 
Constituent members ; converted on ship-board, with 
no one to give him a word of Christian counsel. God 
met him " on the great waters," and wrought in him a 
hope which was ever after like " an anchor to the soul." 
He was a faithful man ;, always carried his religion 
with him, on land and on sea. How vividly he now 
comes before me, as he used to walk up this aisle or 
sit in that pew, which he so constantly filled ; or as 
he stood in the place of our social gatherings, like the 
ancient patriarch, " leaning upon the top of his staff." 

And Bro. Bennett, another Constituent member — 
a man of meek and humble spirit, " full of the Holy 
Ghost and faith." He could not talk much, but; his 
prayers took hold upon the throne. And there was 
brother Joseph Reynolds, who by his bequest to the 
Church, still speaks and works in our Sunday School ; 
and Bro. Joseph Adams, a man who loved the Church, 



33 

and was always willing to do his part in promoting 
its interests — whose sudden and violent death at his 
post on the cars, the Church and a beloved family 
were called to mourn. And Breth. Charles Beckwith 
and Samuel Griffin, whose widows — mother and 
daughter — we still mourn with. And the brothers 
Nelson and Henry and Griswold Loomis; and Gur- 
don Bromley — son of our aged Deacon — faithful men, 
cut down in the prime of manhood, and missed in the 
house of God, as they are in their desolated homes. 
And Bro. Thomas Cranston, so unassuming and yet so 
ripe for heaven, of whom we may say, as Jesus did of 
Nathaniel, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no 
guile," 

And then of " the women who helped in the gos- 
pel," there is an honorable list. We may mention 
sister Clarke, the wife of the first Pastor, who died so 
soon after coming among you. Our aged sister Ma- 
ples, the parent of our senior Deacons and " a Mother 
in Israel." Our sister Ray, who was called so suddenly 
and so solemnly from the choir below to the choirs 
above. Our sister Loomis, who so soon followed her 
sainted mother, and was so soon followed by her com- 
panion. 

And "the time would fail me to speak of" sister 
Gardner, and Bowen, and Savage, and Lewis, and Lock, 
and Cole, and Herrick, and Denison and Case, and of 
others — brethren and sisters too, whose names are in 
the Book of Life. 

'♦Earth's transitory things decay, 
Its pomps its pleasures pass away ; 
But the sweet memory of the good 
Survives in the vicissitude. 



34 

" As midst the ever-rolling sea, 
The eternal isles established be, 
'Gainst which the surges of the main 
Fret, dash and break themselves in vain ; 

'« As in the heavens, the urns divine • 

Of golden light, forever shine ; 
Tho' clouds may darken, storms may rage, 
They still shine on from age to age ; 

" So thro' the ocean-tide of years, 
The memory of the just appears : 
So thro' the tempest and the gloom, 
The good man's virtues light the tomb." 

In conclusion : — This sketch is adapted to awaken 
in our hearts a new interest in the church, to quicken 
and strengthen our attachment to it. The work of God 
on earth centers in the church ; for her sake he made 
the world itself and keeps it in existence ; for her sake 
Christ became "as a Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world." And this imperfect record which we 
make to-day is but the first of an endless series to be 
carried forward in the Annals of Eternity, as God 
t J makes known to principalities and powers by the 
Church his manifold wisdom." 

Young men of the Central Baptist Church, the his- 
tory of the next quarter of a century, whoever at its 
close may sketch it, will be the record you make. The 
lines are fallen to you not only " in pleasant places," 
but in a most auspicious and telling epoch. When were 
there ever such opportunities, such possibilities as 
these now before you ? If the horoscope of the time 
does not deceive us, it is the purpose of God fco make 
this land of ours the theatre of such a Christian civili- 
zation as the world has never seen; to display on the 
grandest scale the truth that " Righteousness exalteth 



35 

a nation ;" — that Trnth and Justice and Godliness are 
the proper foundations of human governments as they 
are of personal character ; that the gospel of Christ is 
not to be confined to the church, but like another Nile, 
coming down from the upper hills of salvation to over- 
flow its banks and carry its life-giving waters over the 
whole realm of human interests. It is a solemn, a glo- 
rious thing to live in this day. As a nation, we have 
made a century-stride in the last half decade of years. 
The breaking down of the Rebellion, and the spirit of 
caste out of which it grew, are waking up and strength- 
ening liberal sentiments over all the civilized world. 
The war has been like a storm at sea ; it has raised 
billows that are resounding upon every shore. What 
occasions are these for the gospel, for the Church of 
Christ, for young Christian men ! 

" We are living, we are dwelling, 
# In a grand and awful time ; 

In an age on ages telling — 
To be living is sublime. 

"Worlds are changing, heaven beholding, /p 

Thou hast but an hour to fight ; 

Now the blazoned Cross unfolding — 

On, right onward for the right, 

" O ! let all the soul within you 
For the Truth's sake go abroad; 
Strike ! let every nerve and sinew 
Tell on ages ; tell for God !" 

In such a time as this, we, as a Church, are entering 
upon our second quarter of a century, and you are 
called to write its history for this period. Let it be 
equal to your opportunities, worthy of your age and 
of your character as Christians ; and remember that 
you are not only making history here, but writing your 
own biographies in the Book of God. 









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